Kelis & Skream’s “Copycat”: Hear The Sexy New Single

Kelis is the unheralded queen of dance music — her last album, 2010’s Flesh Tone, is an electropop masterpiece — but she’s been leaving us wanting for new tunes over the last year or so, recent track “Distance” and Calvin Harris collab “Bounce” notwithstanding. Now, the chanteuse has revealed the fruits of her return to the studio with the English DJ Skream, known for his dubstep treatments on tracks for La Rouxand Example, in a new song called “Copycat.”

Surprisingly, there’s no monster dance breaks here, just glacial synths, a whispered vocal and a whole lotta tension as Kelis rallies against a girl who’s swagger-jagging her. “Aw, come here copycat / You’re my puppet, you know I love it,” Kelis coos over a a frosty track. “I’m such a fan of the dress / That’s why I bought it — five years ago!”

It’s a refreshingly weird and cool departure from the explosive dubstep sound that’s dominating radio. We could use a little more of this spacious, minimalist sound at our local nightclub, and we’ll get it when Skream’s LP Skreamizm 7 drops December 21. Listen to the song below.